Thursday, January 10, 2013

While I may not be the most
creative writer and my blogs may not pose thought provoking questions on
relevant hotly debated events, from time to time I appear to hit on useful
tidbits that people find beneficial. And, ultimately, that is my true goal; simply
providing tidbits of information that others may find helpful. Recently a
contributor to OnlineMBA.com contacted me about a couple of my previous blogs
regarding Business Casual Attire and Interview Attire. She had composed a more
expansive piece which I felt was very well put together. It can be found
here: Building a Business Wardrobe From the Bottom Up.

With all the focus on social
media these days and advice on how to be certain your Facebook page is
“potential employer” friendly. Or the dozens of plus pieces regarding how to
build a LinkedIn profile for job seekers. Often overlooked are the old school items
that once were part of our standard “advice” talk we gave to job seekers. I was
reminded of this subject just the other day as I listened to my daughter
recording an incoming greeting message on her new cell phone. Now she is not in
the job market so her message was fine, but it caused me to reflect on when I
used to counsel job seekers on both their email addresses as well as phone
greetings. Of course back then before the days of “Saved by the Bell” and
Zack with his huge mobile phone people used home answering machines.

So here’s my daughter all giggly
over her newly created greeting where she is, as she put it, tricking people
into thinking they actually reached her live when instead she is just a
recorded voice. And how many of us have heard similar tricky messages or the
greeting with music jamming and so on? My advice to anyone who is currently in
a job hunt mode, re-record your greeting to make it very straight forward and
leaves no question regarding if you are or are not someone that should be
considered for a hiring manager’s open position. Keep it simple. Keep it
neutral.

Or something along those lines
and you are in a job hunt, change it, or better yet, simply get another account
used solely for business reasons.

Can’t get any more
straightforward and any simpler. Like it or not, why take the chance of
alienating one possible potential employer. And it really is not as simple as,
“well I wouldn't want to work for someone so stuffy anyway.” You just
never know what will catch someone wrong. That someone could be the most open
minded person you’d met but they could be turned off by something that seems so
innocent to someone else. Why take the chance? I’d be interested in your
thoughts on this. Or your stories about phone greetings or email addresses.